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Four people were killed in a Jewish synagogue in a terrorist attack carried out by militants from Abu Ali Mustafa Brigades, military wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Israel has threatened to respond ‘with a heavy hand’ in order to prevent copycat attacks. This tit-for-tat strategy is more likely to result in new attacks, though, not prevent them, so the real question is not ‘if’ there will be more attacks but ‘when’. Of greater concern for us, though, should be whether the next attack will have a Pakistan connection.

When it comes to Pakistan-India relations, extraordinary tales of intrigue and spy games are the norm. A few years ago, India even arrested a bird on suspicion of spying for Pakistan. But if fanciful tales are common, it is because just beyond them lies the true stories of espionage and counter-espionage that each country takes very seriously. These true stories are easy to separate from the fantasies when enough details come to light to make the case undeniable.

Israel escalated it’s attack against Gaza yesterday by launching a ground invasion, adding tanks and soldiers to the already indiscriminate air strikes. Hamas has refused any offer of cease fire and warns of ‘heavy price‘ for the latest invasion. Meanwhile, the world is struggling to find a solution that will stop the unnecessary killing. Well, most of the world. In Pakistan, our leaders and supposed ‘security experts’ are trotting out well worn emotional responses without a hint of reason.

My prayers are with the people of Gaza. What a disgrace that Muslim leaders are so insensitive to what is happening — Maleeha Lodhi (@LodhiMaleeha) July 17, 2014

Maleeha Lodhi obviously doesn’t mention war by name, but since Egypt, Turkey, Qatar and Pakistan have all been working to try to negotiate an end to the violence, it is not unreasonable to assume that diplomacy is not a satisfactory means for our ex-diplomat.

Details aside, the idea is always the same – that the Ummah is under attack from Jews and all means necessary to secure the Ummah against the Jews is justified. Ironically, this is essentially the same idea that is guiding Israel’s policy of state terrorism against Gaza – a religious obligation to kill.

Gaza can’t be saved with religion. That does not mean we should not pray to Allah to intervene and stop this madness, but it means that giving the same prayers that the Israelis are giving – ‘Oh God Kill Our Enemies’ – is part of the problem not part of the solution. In the meantime, we need to start looking for solutions that do not involve religious violence. Both for Gaza, and for ourselves.

While atrocities continue to take place in Gaza, several countries are trying to stop the killing. America offered to help broker a cease fire last week, but with its history of unquestioning support for Israel, the US is not seen as a neutral broker. Egypt has been trying to negotiate its own cease fire, but has not been able to get Hamas to agree to stop its rocket attacks. As the body count rises with no end in sight, however, PTI has a modest proposal of its own. Start a nuclear war with Israel!

Bloody good idea! And I do mean bloody. After all, Israel is only 114 km wide at its widest point. For those unfamiliar with the actual geography, it looks like this:

So let us imagine what would happen if we followed PTI’s advice and nuked Israel. Obviously, we would kill millions of Jews including innocent women and children. This might be considered a small price to pay for stopping the killing of the Palestinians, though – never mind that killing innocents with disproportionate response is exactly what we’re protesting Israel for.

Because of the small geography and the large impact of nuclear weapons, though, we would also kill all the Palestinians, too. But we can rationalise this because they will embrace martyrdom in effort to kill all the Jews. The important thing to remember is that after our attack, Israel will no longer be able to kill innocent Palestinians! Because, of course, we will have killed them all ourselves.

Images of the innocent victims of Israeli attacks against Muslims in Gaza are sickening. Every day I am praying for the atrocities to end. However, I am not here to offer just another condemnation of Israeli aggression. I want to speak to my Muslim brothers and sisters about another disturbing trend that I am witnessing.

This is just one Tweet, but it is representative of thousands that are appearing in my timeline from Pakistanis and other Muslims praising Hitler for trying to kill all Jews and praying for a ‘new Hitler’ to finish the genocide.

What is the difference between these statements and the statements of Zionists who support genocide of Muslims? Killing innocents is killing innocent and both are wrong. More to the point, you can not claim moral high ground against genocide if you are also supporting genocide.